Cooking with Girl Scout cookies

2017 marks Girl Scout Cookie's 100th anniversary! Samoas, Savanna Smiles and Thin Mints have long held a place in our hearts and our tummies; not only for the taste but also because they play an enormous role in transforming girls into G.I.R.L.S. (Go-getters, Innovators, Risk-takers, Leaders)™.

This year, Girl Scout Cookies are being taken to a whole new level at the first ever Cookies & Cocktails Gala in honor of the century-old Girl Scout Cookie tradition. More than 25 female chefs and bartenders are coming together to make unprecedented creations inspired by Girl Scout Cookies.

Chef Kristi Brown from That Brown Girl Cooks and Stefanie Ellis from Girl Scouts of Western Washington give us a preview of the gala with Kristi's Black-Eyed Pea Hummus Cheesecake with Trefoils Crust and a Minted lamb mole with Savannah Smiles corn pone.

Hummus Cheesecake Recipe

Cheesecake:

• 2 packs of cream cheese (8oz each) softened
• ½ cup whipping cream
• 4 eggs
• 16 oz of That Brown Girl Cooks Hummus
• ¼ cup Frank’s hot sauce
• 1 tsp Salt

Crust:

• 1 ½ cups Trefoils Girl Scout Cookies
• ¼ cup of melted butter
• ½ tsp Crushed red peppers

Caramelized bacon

• 2 cups chopped bacon ends
• ½ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 tbsp red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350
2. Whip cream cheese until fluffy then add eggs one at a time
3. Add cream, hot sauce, and salt to mixture
4. Incorporate hummus into mixture, set to the side
5. Crumble cookies in a food processor then transfer to a bowl and add the melted butter to crumbled cookies
6. Spray your spring form pan with non-stick spray
7. Press mixture into the bottom of your spring form pan
8. Pour your cheese and hummus mixture on top
9. Bake for 45-60 mins, cake should feel firm to the touch
10. While cheesecake is baking, chop up your bacon
11. Cook bacon until crisp, drain and set aside
12. Cook down your balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and crushed red pepper flakes until you reach a syrup-like consistency
13. Add bacon to mixture and pour over cheesecake after taking out of the oven
14. Cool down

Lamb Mole and Savannah Smiles Corn Poon Recipe

• 1/2 cup cornmeal (finely ground)
• 2 1/2 cups chicken stock (divided)
• 1 (3-inch) red pepper flakes
• Salt & pepper to taste

Add cornmeal to a bowl. Pour in 1/2 cup water and let soak for 5 minutes.
While the cornmeal is soaking, add the remaining 2 cups of water to a sauce pot along with the red pepper flakes. Cover and bring to a boil.
Pour in soaked cornmeal as well as any liquid in the bowl, to the boiling water. Lower the heat to simmer and whisk to avoid lumps.
Cook covered for 15 - 20 minutes.
Remove the pot from the heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, stirring until fully incorporated.

Mole Negro

• 20 Chilhuacles Negos
• 10 Chiles Pasillas
• 3 Mulatos
• 15 Chiles Guajillos
• 1 cup water
• 3 cloves, crushed
• 3 whole allspice
• 6 fresh thyme sprigs
• 6 marjoram sprigs
• 2 tbsp Oaxacan oregano leaves
• ¾ cup oil
• ¼ cup sesame seeds
• ¼ shelled peanuts
• 10 almonds
• ¼ cup raisins
• 1 small onion
• 12 small garlic cloves
• 1 very thick 3 inch cinnamon stick, slivered
• 1 ripe plantain, peeled and cut into thick slices
• Girl Scout Thin Mint Cookies
• 2 crisp-fried corn tortillas
• 1 oz Mexican drinking chocolate, broken into small pieces
• ½ pound tomatoes, roasted until browned
• Sea salt to taste

1. Remove the stems from the dried chiles and remove the seeds, veins.
2. Toast whole Chilhuacles, Pasillas,Mulatos and Guajillos chiles in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until charred, about 3 minutes.
3. Rinse the chiles off with cold water, then soak for 30 minutes in hot water.
4. Strain chiles & Transfer to the blender with chicken broth. Set blender with chiles and broth to the side.
5. Heat 2 cups chicken broth in a saucepan until it begins to simmer for , let simmer 5 minutes.
6. Transfer broth to the blender with chiles. Set to the side.
7. Crumble the cookies and toast tortillas in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until lightly browned, about 3 minutes.
8. Transfer to the blender with chicken broth, herbs and chiles.
9. Allow the chiles and cookies and tortillas to soak, fully submerged, in the chicken broth until softened, about 10 minutes.
10. Blend the mixture until smooth, set to the side.
11. Roast tomatoes under broiler until blackened, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
12. Place tomatoes in the blender with the chile puree. Set to the side.
13. Melt lard in a large skillet over medium heat. Stir in: sesame seeds, onion, garlic, peanuts, raisins, almonds, cumin seeds, thyme, cinnamon sticks, cloves, and allspice berries; cook and stir until onions are soft and golden, 5 to 8 minutes.
14. Remove the cinnamon sticks and other whole spices; add onion mixture to the blender with the chile-tomato mixture and blend until smooth.
15. Pour chile puree into a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until chocolate is melted and sauce is thickened and slightly reduced, 10 to 15 minutes.
16. Bring mixture to a simmer;
17. When done the mole should just coat the back of a wooden spoon.
18. Note that it can be held in the freezer for months!

Lamb Skewers

• 1 pound 2 ounces quality lamb, trimmed, cut into 1-inch cubes.
• Salt for at least 6 hours and up to 24 hours (1 teaspoon salt per pound).

How to:

1. Apply salt evenly over surface, wrap tightly with plastic wrap, and let rest in refrigerator.
2. Soak skewers sticks (to keep from burning).
3. Divide and thread pieces of meat onto the skewers.
4. Allow skewered meat to sit in Mole for at least 30 mins to 2 hours.
5. Grill, griddle or barbecue for around 5 minutes, or until nicely charred on the outside with a juicy pink inside. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving – that is, if you can stop yourself eating them straight away!
6. Served on top of Corn Poon, drizzle more sauce on top!!